Syllabus :GS 3/Environment, Conservation
In News
- The 16th session of the UNCCD Conference of Parties (COP16) is going to be held from December 2-13, 2024, marking the convention’s 30th anniversary.
- The theme is “Our Land and Our Future.
| About the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). – In 1994, 196 countries and the European Union signed the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). – The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the decision-making body of the UNCCD, bringing together governments, businesses, and civil society to address land challenges and promote sustainability. 1. UNCCD is one of the three “Rio Conventions,” along with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), all stemming from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. – COP16 takes place in West Asia, a region heavily impacted by desertification, drought, and land degradation. |
About the Desertification
- Desertification is a type of land degradation in which an already relatively dry land area becomes increasingly arid, degrading productive soil and losing its bodies of water, biodiversity and vegetation cover.
Causes
- Every year, 100 million hectares of healthy land are degraded due to drought and desertification, largely driven by climate change and poor land management.
- Desertification occurs mainly in dry areas due to climate variations and human activities like over-farming and deforestation.
- Extreme weather events, including droughts and floods, worsen land degradation.
- Agriculture contributes to 23% of greenhouse gas emissions, 80% of deforestation, and 70% of freshwater use.
Impacts
- Healthy land is crucial for life, providing food, shelter, jobs, regulating climate, and supporting biodiversity.
- Up to 40% of the world’s land is degraded, affecting 3.2 billion people.
- Desertification and droughts are worsening, contributing to forced migration. By 2050, 216 million people will be displaced by climate change, with droughts increasing by 29% since 2000.
- Desertification affects 3.2 billion people and leads to $11 trillion in losses. Immediate action is required to restore 1.5 billion hectares of land by 2030.
- Impact on Agriculture: Groundwater depletion due to poor rainfall and land management forces farmers to migrate to cities, threatening food security and livelihoods.
- Land degradation impacts several other planetary boundaries, including climate change, biosphere integrity, and freshwater systems, worsening environmental pressures.
- Land degradation undermines Earth’s ability to sustain human life, and failing to reverse it will create challenges for future generations.
- Deforestation and degraded soils drive hunger, migration, and conflicts.
Steps of India
- The National Action Plan to Combat Desertification, 2023 aims to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land in India by 2030, in line with the country’s commitments under the UNCCD.
- It focuses on South-South Cooperation to share sustainable land management strategies and create additional carbon sinks of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through enhanced forest and tree cover by 2030.
- It outlines remedial and preventive models for combating land degradation and desertification.
Solutions
- It is possible to restore land by implementing sustainable practices. UNCCD aims to restore 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030, with ongoing efforts in places like Burkina Faso and the Philippines.
- UNCCD stresses the need for urgent action to prevent further land degradation, as failure to do so will create long-term consequences for future generations.
- COP16 Goals in Riyadh:
- Accelerate land restoration by 2030
- Build resilience to droughts, sand, and dust storms
- Restore soil health and increase nature-positive food production
- Secure land rights and promote equity in land stewardship
- Ensure land continues to provide climate and biodiversity solutions
- Unlock economic opportunities, including decent land-based jobs for youth.
Source :DTE
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